


got you in my sights

by wordslinging



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: 1970s, Canon-Typical Violence, Competence Kink, Italian Mafia, M/M, Self-Indulgent, This Is Luca Marinelli's Fault, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordslinging/pseuds/wordslinging
Summary: There are a lot of unfortunate things about this job, but high on Joe’s personal list is how Nicky pretending to be a thoroughly bad person is somehow stupidly, ridiculously, brain-meltingly sexy.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 70
Kudos: 1159





	got you in my sights

**Author's Note:**

> This happened because I watched Trust and went a little feral over the scene where Luca Marinelli brings "hypercompetent Italian sniper" energy to a role that is otherwise as un-Nicky-like as possible. If you have not seen Trust, allow me to direct you to [the scene in question](https://timgayterson.tumblr.com/post/626851179945721856/primo-in-that-cornflower-blue-fit-flared-pants) (no spoilers for the series as a whole). Much like Joe, I cannot and will not be held accountable for my actions when presented with that.

Nicky stays undercover almost a full six months before he gains the trust they need to take down the crime family he’s worked his way into. Six months of Joe only getting to see him at brief periodic check-ins, and even then not being able to kiss or embrace or even tell Nicky he loves him on the off-chance that someone will see or hear something they shouldn’t and blow his cover. Six months of Nicky working and sleeping and eating with hardened criminals, drug runners and kidnappers and enforcers, and Joe _knows_ that even among men like that his love is the most dangerous man in the room, but still. He always worries when it’s Nicky doing the infiltrating, would much rather it be himself or Booker, but to infiltrate the mafia it would have been stupid to send anyone but Nicky in.

As bad as it for Joe, he knows it’s got to be even worse for Nicky, who’s coping not only with separation and risk, but also with six months of convincingly being a man who is, going by the record Book forged for him and the psych profile they cooked up, not just a career criminal but a _thoroughly_ bad person.

There are a lot of unfortunate things about this job, but high on Joe’s personal list is how Nicky pretending to be a thoroughly bad person is somehow stupidly, ridiculously, brain-meltingly sexy.

The stupid part is, he doesn’t even look like himself. Before he went under, they assembled a wardrobe for him that’s flashy and tight and very un-Nicky, and he grew this mustache that...well. Joe has enjoyed it in the past when Nicky’s let his facial hair grow, when he’s had a decent layer of scruff or even a full beard. This mustache is...not that. This mustache works with the flashy wardrobe and the attitude Nicky projects when he’s in character to seamlessly create the image of a sleazy, arrogant mafioso, a man used to getting what he wants and willing to do whatever he has to in the process. The man Nicky’s spent the last six months pretending to be has nothing of his kind heart or curious mind or noble spirit, and yet, some unrepentantly slutty corner of Joe’s mind still wants this man to shove him up against a wall and do unprintable things to him. 

So, maybe it’s not such a bad thing that Joe’s seen Nicky so infrequently the past few months, if only for the sake of his self-control lasting.

Finally, Nicky signals that it’s time to make their move. They're not going to solve the general problem of organized crime anytime soon, but they can stop this particular group of men from hurting anybody again, and that plus the promise of getting his husband back has Joe feeling pretty optimistic as they go in. 

The takedown goes well right up to the point where one of their major targets pulls a knife from his sleeve, guts Booker like a fish, scrambles over the body of his now ex-driver and bodyguard to get to his car, and peels away with a screech of tires. Joe's about to jump behind the wheel and go after him when Nicky stops him with a hand on his shoulder and calmly walks around to the trunk. 

Since Nicky had to go into this with only what his cover identity would have on him--in this case, a single handgun, a pair of aviator shades, and a tight-fitting cornflower-blue suit that his ass looks fantastic in, not that Joe's been checking him out in the middle of a fight or anything--they brought backup weapons for him in the trunk of their car, including his sword and sniper rifle. As Joe watches, he pulls out the rifle and shuts the trunk, still with no appearance of being at all in a hurry. 

"Babe," Joe says, because their target is speeding further away with every second, Booker is clutching his stomach and waiting for all his guts to be back where they're supposed to, and a little ways away Andy is clearly toying with two guys who--poor doomed bastards--thought the sole woman in the group attacking them would be the easy target. "Really?" 

Nicky springs nimbly onto the trunk and then the roof of the car, gun in one hand. "I did not spend the last six months away from you and pretending to be one of these motherless bastards--" he cocks the rifle and raises it to his shoulder, taking aim, "--to let this one get away."

He fires and the car swerves but keeps going; undeterred, Nicky cocks, aims, and fires again. This time the car swerves more sharply, then slows and stops, and Joe catches a sound--the faint but constant blaring of a horn that suggests a body slumped over a steering wheel. 

Nicky lowers his gun, gives a brief nod, and then looks down at Joe with a satisfied grin, rifle balanced casually on his hip.

...Joe is going to nail him through the _floor_ when this is all over. Or get Nicky to nail _him_ through the floor, at this point he's not inclined to be choosy.

"Joe." Andy, who's finally finished dicking around with her two, comes up beside him. "You still with us?" 

"Absolutely, boss," Joe replies automatically, eyes still locked on Nicky as tightly as that goddamn suit is clinging to his body. Nicky climbs down off the car and bends over to collect his spent casings, and Joe doesn't even try to pretend he isn't staring. 

"Get over there and make sure you got him, show-off," Andy says fondly to Nicky.

Nicky’s expression says _obviously, I got him_ , but he doesn’t argue, just puts his rifle back in the trunk and tosses a wink in Joe’s direction before he gets in the car. 

“Book, you good?” Andy calls, looking his way, and Booker waves vaguely in her direction, grumbling about how he _liked_ this shirt. She nods and glances back at Joe, who is busy taking deep, calming breaths. “You gonna be able to keep it together while we clean up here?”

“I make no promises,” Joe replies. “The love of my life is devastatingly attractive and terrifyingly competent and I cannot and will not be held responsible for where that leads me.”

Andy wrinkles her nose. “Even with that mustache?” she asks, and when Joe cocks his head to the side with a contemplative look, “ _Really_?” 

“Don’t you judge me,” Joe says.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] got you in my sights](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28611408) by [greedy_dancer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greedy_dancer/pseuds/greedy_dancer)




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